As the red carpet prepares to roll out for the 77th Cannes Film Festival, a powerful wave of condemnation from the global film community has placed the ongoing war in Gaza under a glaring spotlight.

Nearly 400 filmmakers, actors, and industry leaders — including Hollywood icons Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem — have signed a bold open letter denouncing what they describe as the “genocide” unfolding in Gaza.

The letter, released Monday in French daily Libération and Variety magazine, calls on the international film community to “refuse to accept the death, destruction, and devastation unraveling before our very eyes.”

“We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza,” the letter reads. “We reject the propaganda that enables the dehumanization of Palestinians and so many others.”

Signatories include Palme d'Or winners, Cannes laureates, and Oscar recipients, such as directors Pedro Almodóvar, Ruben Östlund, Jonathan Glazer, David Cronenberg, and Costa-Gavras.

The call to action comes just as Cannes opens with much fanfare on the French Riviera — but without any dedicated programming acknowledging the war in Gaza, despite the mounting death toll and humanitarian catastrophe.

The filmmakers’ message takes on added weight with the tragic story of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month in northern Gaza — just one day after it was announced that a documentary about her life, Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, had been selected for screening in the festival’s independent ACID section.

Directed by Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi, the film is now being presented as a tribute to Hassona, who was killed alongside ten family members. “There needs to be a real statement,” Farsi said. “Saying ‘the festival isn’t political’ makes no sense.”

While Cannes has scheduled a “Ukraine Day” featuring three films on Russia’s invasion, including appearances by President Volodymyr Zelensky, it has not organized a similar program addressing the Gaza crisis. This disparity has drawn criticism from artists and activists alike.

"The silence from international cultural institutions is deafening," the signatories argued. "When artists are targeted and entire communities are erased, silence is complicity."

The signatories' plea coincides with renewed Israeli assaults on Gaza, which have resumed since March 18, following the collapse of a temporary ceasefire and prisoner exchange. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 2,780 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,700 injured since then. The total death toll since October 2023 has surpassed 52,800.

Israel’s war on Gaza is currently the subject of multiple international legal proceedings, including a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and war crimes charges filed by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Gazan filmmakers Tarzan and Arab Nasser are also expected to premiere a new fiction film set in Gaza in 2007, part of the festival's secondary programming. However, many in the global artistic community believe that symbolic gestures are not enough.

“We urge our peers and the Cannes Film Festival to use their platforms to amplify voices calling for justice, dignity, and the sanctity of human life,” the letter concludes.